Sanctuary For All
by LannaKitty
Summary: A series of Sanctuary ficlets written for prompt tables or from prompts given to me by friends
1. Battle Fatigue

Sanctuary Ficlets

Each chapter is a new Sanctuary ficlet

* * *

Grey - Season 2 speculation

Prompt: Battle Fatigue

She's tired of fighting; Men, women, shadowy organizations, the relentless march of time, herself. Helen stands in the rain at the appointed place at the appointed hour. The conflict has been long and hard this year and she wants it to end, but all she has is another battlefield. Another in an endless supply.

The skies open up. Grey rain from grey clouds finds it's way into her collar and trickles down her neck. The world even smells grey. She wishes for color; laughing blue and sunny yellow. Colors that were taken from her. Helen thinks she could stop fighting if she could have them back.

The particle whisper and flash of light means her adversary's arrival. Helen hates this woman, but the fire is quenched by the chilly rain and the fatigue of time. A misty resignation hovers these days, dark and cold. Ashley never wore so much makeup before, she notes idly. Her eyes are a hard grey under the smoky eye shadow; stone and unrelenting. Helen has to fight the impulse to cross the distance. She's tried of fighting that too.

There is posturing and brave words on both sides. Helen hides the fatigue, relying on her supporters to back her up. They do and she is grateful. She knows they're tired of being hunted, harried and chased. Men in matching black body armor stand arrayed behind her daughter, who stands at the Cabal's right hand. By contrast her group appears ragged and uneven. She wouldn't trade places. Except for one detail.

She's evenly matched against this redheaded demon. Helen resents the flash of color, even as she squashes the impulse. She rejects the offer posed to her. Too many people depending on her would die. It's more reasonable than the last time they had this stand off. Or maybe she's just tired.

Whitcomb's eyes narrow. She threatens politely, and Helen parries with equal civility. The super soldiers opposing them tense. Helen watches her daughter's eyes as the conflict brews. There is a flash of something. A flicker of defiance and contained rage that she knows well. Helen's breath catches as it slides away under the current of ice. John rips her away before a real fight can begin and suddenly she is home.

Helen lets out a long breath and turns to the next order of business. She is worn and weary, but she has found something to fight for.


	2. Healing

Healing

Prompt: Helen/John "Healing"

* * *

Helen leaned against the cool stone, using the wall to steady herself. The lights of the city reflected off the calm waters of the river. The earliest of traffic noises were at the edge of her hearing.

She'd needed a moment away from everyone else, away from the infirmary, away from the machines and Henry's contraption humming away. It had been a very long week. She inhaled and exhaled. The air was wet from a pre-dawn rain. Spring was chilly here. She pulled her hair out of the hairband and ran her fingers through it.

Footsteps on the stone startled her. She hadn't heard the door open behind her. John had one arm in a sling and his long leather coat draped over his shoulders. He paused just at the edge of propriety, much as he had when they were first getting to know one another. He'd had more hair then. Helen laughed quietly once as that thought occurred to her. He'd taken to doing that since his unexpected arrival on her doorstep. It was like they were starting their acquaintance anew despite the daughter and century of history they shared.

John walked forward careful as always to give her ample time to widen the distance between them if she so chose. Helen was too tired to move away. Her stomach dropped as a thought occurred to her.

"Has something happened?"

"No, no," he assured her. "Ashley is asleep and the rest of the injured are recovering nicely," he added, moving his arm a little. he winced.

Helen let out a breath and nodded, retreating into professional inquiry. "How is your arm?"

John looked down at it before answering. "I'll heal. Helen?"

"I just...needed some space," Helen said, looking at the city. The wind picked up, blowing her hair around. She brushed it out of her face absently. The clouds in the east had gained a pink tinge and the traffic was louder now.

She heard him move and a moment later he was trying to drape his coat on her shoulders. It wasn't an easy task with one arm so she reached up to help. They watched the sunrise together, gold and pink spreading across the sky, warming the air.

The week hit her suddenly; the horror, pain, sadness and fear she'd felt all came crashing back at once. The immense relief and crushing sickness at seeing what had been done to Ashley, the feelings of helplessness and the cold terror of how close she'd come to losing all she cared about. Helen wiped at her eyes. John stood beside her, silently watching the city.

"It's not really all over, is it?" Helen asked when she thought she had control of her voice.

"This part is," John murmured. "The next part may be harder."

Helen nodded and turned away from the sunrise reflecting off the water. "But now we have a chance, don't we?"

"Yes," John agreed, escorting her toward the door. "I believe we do."


	3. Reality

Title: Reality  
Author: lanna_kitty  
Rating: Pg-13; language  
Pairing: Gen. Ashley and Henry friendship.  
Type: Drama, Angst  
Characters: Ashley Magnus, Henry Foss

Disclaimer: Don't own 'em  
Summary: Scene from Season 1 prior to the finale.

Notes: Thanks to stoicana for the swift feedback! Thanks also to kat_rowe (the blue raven) for encouragement. Written for my prompt table.

Prompt: Reality

* * *

The insistent rapping woke Henry. He wiped at his eyes and stared into his dark room, disoriented. He wondered if he'd been dreaming when the knocking on his door sounded again. Looking at the clock as he stumbled out of bed, he wondered who was here at three am. Henry was surprised to find Ashley on the other side. She looked very small wrapped in her huge down comforter. Her eyes were wild and red-rimmed. Henry sucked in a breath. As long as he'd known Ashley, she'd never looked so terrified.

He held open the door to let her in. "What happened?" He immediately wondered if something was wrong with Magnus. That was about the only thing that he could think of that would make Ashley so afraid.

Ashley made a small noise and pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders as she entered. "Is the EM shield up?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Can you double check?" she asked, huddling into the blanket.

He watched her eyes quickly scan the dark corners of his room and nodded. She did that on missions, not while she was home. Silently, Henry woke his computer up. He blinked a few times in the bright light of the monitor as he brought up the program monitoring the EM shield. "It's still up and at one hundred percent," he reassured her as he pointed it out on the monitoring system.

She sat on the bed, sagging. "Never take it down, okay?"

"Ash? You okay?" He sat beside her.

Shaking her head, she leaned into his side. "I did something stupid." The blanket was pulled up a little higher.

"It can't be that bad. What happened?"

She was shaking as she answered. "I googled Druitt."

"Okay," he still wasn't sure what she was getting at, but whatever she'd read, it was affecting her in a way few things ever had. The hand holding the comforter clenched and unclenched, and she was searching the corners again. He reached over and was surprised when she flinched. "Hey, I'm here." Henry put an arm around her, comforter and all, and pulled her into a hug.

Ashley stared straight ahead. "There were pictures. On Wikipedia."

Her shaking voice broke his heart and it took a second for him to really get what she was saying. "Pictures?" Henry asked.

She nodded, eyes fixed on the wall. "Crime scene photos. They're black and white. It's hard to see what's going on 'cause they're old and gritty." Henry watched her mouth work for a moment as she tried to figure out what to say. "The pictures don't make sense at first." She wiped at her eyes with the heel of her hand.

The blanket had fallen a little so Henry pulled it back up and squeezed her shoulder. Ashley didn't scare easily. The fact that she was shaking and actually crying, which he hadn't seen her do since she was a preschooler, terrified him. Helpless, he didn't know what to do other than just let her talk.

Ashley took a shuddering breath. "And then the picture just...It resolved into something I could understand." She looked at him with watery eyes. "How could anyone do that to another person?"

Henry shook his head. He didn't know what to say or think. He'd never googled Jack the Ripper so he didn't know what she was talking about exactly, but he'd seen crime scene photos. He knew about that horror; when the colors and shapes in the picture suddenly became parts of a person. Unsure what else to do, he pulled her into a hug.

"I don't know, Ash. I don't know."

"I think I know why Mom didn't want me to know." She laughed once. It was a bad sound on the hysterical side and Henry held her tighter. "Why she refused to watch with us when we rented that Johnny Depp movie. It's real. People make it into movies and TV but it's real." She paused then added, "And it's inside me."

"Now, see, that's bullshit," Henry said, gripping her shoulder. "You're not a psycho."

She shuddered under his grip. "How do you know I'm not? I like hunting for Mom," she admitted in a small voice. "He said things. About me. I know he was taunting me, and I shouldn't have listened, but they were true."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Henry wondered what Druitt had said to her. Baldy had hurt some of the most important people in his life and he wanted to strike out at him. The wolf growled in the back of his head.

"No." She wiped her face on the edge of the comforter. "I don't know what to do."

"He was taunting you, Ash. Trying to get your goat," Henry reasoned. "Whatever he said, ignore him. He doesn't know you."

"But I think he does."

"Ash,"

"Promise me something?" She pushed away from him slightly so she could look him in the eyes. Hers were watery and red and her knuckles were white from gripping the blanket. Her jaw was set.

"I- Yeah. Anything." She was the best friend who'd always been there for him. She got him and he knew without a shred of doubt she'd do anything for him, too. "What?"

"If I get out of line, kill me."

"What?" Henry reared back in surprise.

"Promise me!" Ashley snapped back. "Will can't do it, Mom won't do it."

"And you think I will?" Henry grabbed her upper arm. He forced himself to calm down and shove the wolf away. "Ash what the hell did that bastard say to you?"

"I like the hunt," she told him, "I like the chase and the danger and the adrenaline rush." Her breath was heavy in the close space between them. "I like the violence, the thrill."

Henry felt his heart pound in his chest and blood sang in his ears. Part of him wanted that too, the primal wolf side he'd been pushing down for decades. He liked chasing hackers and spy programs and tracking people down for Magnus. He enjoyed the surge when he was successful, the feeling of power. Instinct told him he'd like the rush of an actual, physical hunt too.

Ashley's head tilted slightly to the side. "You get it." There was a note of something else. Maybe wonder, or recognition, or possibly both. Her eyes focused back on him, "You know I'm scary. You know people are terrified of me. If I slip, someone needs to take me down."

Henry gritted his teeth and winced . "Why me?" He looked up at her, feeling a glare creep into his eyes. "You're not the only one with a monster inside you."

"I know," she agreed and the simple acceptance of that left him feeling oddly relieved. Sometimes it was like Magnus didn't understand why he was afraid of his big, bad self.

"Ash, I can't-"

"Yes, Henry, you can. You're the only one I can trust with this."

There was no way he could do what she asked, he thought. She was Ashley. They'd stolen candy from the table at Halloween before they were supposed to and had snuck down to shake their gifts during the holidays. They watched bad zombie films together.

"Please."

Henry winced again at her voice. She sounded desperate, like she was going to fall and needed to be hauled off the edge of the cliff. He knew that feeling well enough. He let out a long breath.

"One condition," he said and it made him sick how she seemed to utterly relax now that he'd agreed to her insane plan. He knew she'd never need to be taken out, she was too damn strong to fall like that, but his inner wolf was another story.

"Okay," she said, nodding.

Henry looked her in the eyes and grabbed her other arm. "If I go big, bad wolf, you need to...return the favor ."

She blinked in surprise then frowned. "Henry."

"No, Ash. That's my condition. Do you get it?"

She nodded slowly. "Yeah."

It was probably wrong that part of him felt a little settled after getting her to agree to that. Not good, but settled because there was a net if the shit hit the fan. "Okay."

"I'm sorry I woke you up." She looked around, seeming to realize for the first time how early it was.

"It's cool. You okay?" he asked, tugging at the covers, trying for a smile.

Ashley shook her head. "Not really."

Henry's first instinct was to ask if she wanted to play some left4dead or Halo, but quickly caught himself before he could. Video game violence wasn't what she needed right now. "Want to watch bad monster movies?" he suggested.

Ashley looked at the clock. "It's almost four-thirty am," she said, sliding off the bed.

Henry grinned and followed her. "That's the best time to watch bad monster movies. Or we could watch some bad fantasy. Hey, how about that highlander movie with the guy that looks like Watson?" That earned him a small smile and finally he felt better. He pulled his comforter off the bed and wrapped it around his shoulders, matching her. "Let's go watch a movie."


	4. Mentor

Prompt: Ashley & Druitt, "Mentor"

* * *

He is nothing like she'd pictured her father to be.

She expected more hair for one thing.

Amid all the names her mother has dropped over the years, Jack the fucking Ripper was not one she imagined being her, supposedly dead, father.

A lot of things suddenly made sense. Her desire to be on the bleeding edge of excitement, her mad skills at tracking things down, her ability to take abuse and dish it out. Her need to hunt.

Some things don't make sense, like why she has to learn it from him and not from her mother. Why Helen told her he was dead when he's clearly alive. Why Helen didn't admit the truth and help Ashley prepare before now.

He offers to show her the world her mother has kept from her. He's a hunter and killer and the darkest parts of her know that he could teach her...things. Things she can hardly admit to herself that she's curious to learn.

For the first time that night, she's terrified.


End file.
